CableCard

TiVo Switched Video Tuning Adapters Appear at CableLabs

At long last, the SDV dongles that TiVo promised would arrive this year from Motorola and Cisco have been submitted to CableLabs for formal testing. For those unfamiliar, these little devices allow for two way communication between CableCard boxes and Cable Companies, so that only the needed programming data is sent, and bandwidth is conserved. Dave Zatz says its a good start to fixing the whole CableCard HD Programming debacle, even if its widely unsupported and a bit clunky. A shot of the Cisco box below. [Zatz Not Funny] More »

7:16 PM on Mon May 19 2008
By Adrian Covert
3,715 views, 13 comments

Latest by Geist420: Awesome idea.. but it's useless until everybody has it. They still need to send all the channels to everybody that doesn't have one of these, which is the vast majority, and to every device that can't use them...again, the vast more »

cable

CableLabs Responds to CableCard Screwjob Allegation

The good folks at CableLabs replied to today's piece about CableCard customers getting screwed out of HD channels. To their credit, they did not ask for a correction, because we didn't print anything inaccurate (though they do claim the HD Guru may have). They just wanted us to consider some "clarifications," arguments that go far to highlight the tension (hatred bordering on violence?) that exists between Big Cable and the consumer-electronics companies. The short version: Cable content is always changing, two-way CableCard exists in theory if not at Best Buy, the dongle could work on anything with a USB port and upgradeable firmware, and, oh yeah, you'll probably be buying all-new gear before this thing blows over. Jump for a more spelled out—but still excerpted—version of CableLabs' rebuttal argument: More »

8:45 PM on Thu Apr 17 2008
By Wilson Rothman
3,935 views, 21 comments

Latest by MegaZone: @lordargent: No, actually, Wikipedia is wrong - or at least unclear. I will say it again - ALL CableCARDs, those physical PCMCIA-looking things, are two-way. The only difference in the cards are Single-Stream vs. Multi-Stream aka S-Card vs. M-Card. They're more »

cable

CableCard Users Are Getting Screwed Out of HD Channels

Our friend Gary Merson, the HD Guru, has uncovered an issue that may soon piss you off. Cable customers who use the current CableCard to decode signal directly in their TV, a TiVo or Windows Media Center PC may soon start losing HD channels because of a change in technology. To conserve bandwidth, cable carriers are moving from a direct stream of video to "switched digital video," which use two-way digital cable boxes to see what customers need then send it to them. CableCards are only one-way, so they can't make use of any SDV coming down the pipes. What does this mean? Merson says that as of April 15, Cablevision has cut off CableCard access to 15 Voom HD channels, and Time Warner will apparently make similar cuts. More »

12:40 PM on Thu Apr 17 2008
By Wilson Rothman
10,667 views, 58 comments

Latest by bunkacid: Not only are we getting screwed out of HD channels, were still forced into paying for service we can't use, because they don't offer ala' carte services. more »

tvs

Panasonic Kills Rear Projection, Promises 2-Way CableCard By Summer

Today in New York, Panasonic showed off the Viera flat-panel TVs it launched at CES, including its badass flagship PZ800 and PZ850 plasma sets and its premiere LZ800 LCD, all coming this summer at prices to be announced. During the meeting, Panasonic also confirmed officially that it was no longer in the rear-projection business, owing to a price crunch in flat panels that basically drove any discount value out of the chunkier projection sets. Bottom line: people would rather pay $3K for a smaller and thinner set than a larger but fatter one. Panasonic also addressed the issue of OpenCable (aka OCAP aka Tru2way) two-way CableCards. More »

11:47 AM on Tue Mar 11 2008
By Wilson Rothman
5,018 views, 8 comments

Latest by TimurY: Awsome photoshopping! Or should I say 'painting'? more »

pcs

Dell Reintroduces CableCARDs on XPS 420s

We've been keeping an eye on Dell's discontinued CableCARD systems since they first introduced them on the XPS 410s because they were a relatively cheap way to get HD recording on a reasonably-priced desktop. Well, fantastic news! Chris Lanier says that Dell's reintroduced the CableCARD option on their XPS 420s, which you can customize and get out the door starting at about a thousand bucks. According to Dell, this is a "functional upgrade to the platform", which means you'll be able to get the CableCARD on this line for the foreseeable future. Sounds like a cheap alternative to our set-top-box wishlist item. [Dell via Chris Lanier]

7:40 PM on Fri Dec 7 2007
By Jason Chen
2,490 views, 6 comments

Latest by strider_mt2k: @Jayson J. Phillips: I know it blows my current machine out of the water. I'm just glad mine runs ET:QW decently. more »

gadgets

TiVo-Compatible SDV Tuner May Enable Video on Demand

Remember the USB connector device we pointed at a couple days ago that could bring two-way cable communication? It be this Motorola USB SDV tuning resolver. Dave Zatz explains that this tuner, which will plug into the back of your TiVo in order to enable two-way communications between your box and the cable company, will be in deployment by the end of Q2 2008, and may support video on demand in the future. Even if it does not, the point of an SDV device is to tell the cable company which channel you're watching so they can feed you only one at a time, which then lowers bandwidth, which then allows a larger selection of channels for everyone. [Connectedhome2go via ZatzNotFunny]

3:20 PM on Fri Nov 30 2007
By Jason Chen
1,843 views, 6 comments

Latest by jamesreb: Comcast, in my market, replaced their old, bulky digital converters with a new box that looks exactly like this one. Yet they still made them black instead of a nice silver. more »

dvrs

TiVo Fiddles with Nero to Build PC DVR

Why let Microsoft's Media Center PCs have all the fun? Today, TiVo announced a partnership with Nero to "develop a software solution that will bring TiVo features to the personal computer." The company claims that this is in response to the "growing PC TV tuner market," and in our opinion its a wise move. TiVo lost a lot of momentum not anticipating CableCard. Now that cable technology is getting easier and easier to move to the PC, it's not long before the demand for PC recording hits the mainstream. Replay TV and others are already there, so joining with Nero gives TiVo a solid foothold. Only question is this: what happened to Roxio? I thought TiVo and Sonic-owned Roxio had a nice relationship. [TiVo via Zatz]

10:01 AM on Wed Nov 28 2007
By Wilson Rothman
3,554 views, 12 comments

Latest by axiomatic: OMG, Tivo, just say no! Nero is one of the worst "bait and switch" "no refunds" asshole software vendors on the planet. Do not associate yourselves with Nero's criminal ways. more »

laptops

Sony Updates VAIO AR Laptops with Blu-ray and CableCARD

Sony's AR series of VAIO notebooks with their Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 and T7500 processors are already in our catbird seat but now the company's goosed its 17-inch versions, giving them the ability to do a lot more both on the road and in the home theater. How does a Blu-ray drive on board sound to you? How about CableCARD? More »

10:05 AM on Mon Sep 24 2007
By Charlie White
2,962 views, 4 comments

Latest by Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy!: @flyboy: Macs already read them, and with an external hookup, can burn them too. It's probably not a good idea for many manufacturers to start pushing these formats amidst a format war, but at least provide support for them externally. more »

cedia07

Life|Ware Shows Quad-Recording Media Center with Four CableCARDs

Life|Ware rolled out what it says is the first media center PC running four CableCARDs at the same time, and it proved to us that the whole thing actually works today at CEDIA 07. Its life|media Media Center PC is the new top of the line for the company, and it's packing an Intel Quad Core processor, 4GB of RAM and 4TB of storage for a cool $15K. The money shot? It can record four HD channels while it's streaming HD video to four Xbox 360 Elite boxes running the media center extender at the same time. And, it does all this without even breathing hard.
More »

3:10 PM on Fri Sep 7 2007
By Charlie White
5,197 views, 12 comments

Latest by pete: Why does this have (need) 4 coax lines going into it? more »

confirmed

TiVo Confirms TiVoToGo and Multi-Room Viewing Will Hit Series3 and TiVo HD This November

The rumors we posted are true: TiVo is finally getting its balls back. TiVo has confirmed with Gizmodo that TiVoToGo and multi-room viewing have returned to the new Series3 boxes—including the TiVo HD—and will be available in November. We are told that the hold up was DRM—getting the rights stuff figured out with CableCard was a hassle. But once that was solved, insiders say it took a "LONG time" to get the software to work right on the Series3 platform. More »

12:07 PM on Fri Sep 7 2007
By Wilson Rothman
13,050 views, 12 comments

Latest by Leiterfluid: Great. Bring back lifetime activations, and I'll buy one. Until then... meh. more »

don't miss

TiVo HD Review From Late Last Night

That's a beauty shot of the $300 TiVo HD we reviewed last midnight. If you use a DVR, you have to check it out. This thing is pretty badass for three bills. [TiVo HD Review]

12:25 PM on Tue Jul 24 2007
By Brian Lam
2,877 views, 1 comment

breaking

$300 TiVo HD Unboxed and Fondled (Verdict: Hell Yes!)

If you've been saving up your nickels to get a $800 TiVo Series3, you just got yourself a $500 bonus prize. Today TiVo releases the TiVo HD, a scaled-back version of the original Series3 that lists for just $299. We got our hands on one, and managed the even more complicated task of convincing Cablevision to install two CableCARDs. Now that it's up and running, I can't think of a single reason to ever plug in that Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HD again. (Oh yeah, the TiVo's a loaner.) The great news: To reach the low-low-price of $300, TiVo only cuts the corners we'd cut ourselves. It is functionally a Series 3, minus the fluff.
More »

12:01 AM on Tue Jul 24 2007
By Wilson Rothman
35,000 views, 58 comments

Latest by senseless99: Re: the Comcast $1.91 rate .. I called yesterday to schedule my install. The tech I spoke to said it would be $1.91 (not sure if they will charge for one or both cards). I asked him specifically if that more »

pctv

New ATI TV Wonder Cards Add Enhanced DVR Functionality, QAM Tuner

Today, ATI announced the 600 USB and 650 PCIe cards, one for USB one for PCIe. The USB is a single tuner HDTV device for laptops, like the Pinnacle. The 650 PCIe is a desktop card with two tuners (that's new) that records and plays an analog and digital source simultaneously. Both cards have Orb DVR software which allows other PCs on the network to stream shows from the host PC. More »

7:19 PM on Mon Jul 9 2007
By Adrian Covert
7,982 views, 9 comments

home entertainment

Cable Companies To Charge More For Box Rental, Thanks To CableCard

The good news is, as of July 1 cable companies are required to ship new cable boxes that use new bi-directional CableCards, a move mandated by the FCC to support CableCard-based alternatives such as TiVos and Vista Media Center PCs. The bad news is: Everybody's gonna pay for it. By next January, set-top box rentals may go up $2 to $3 per month, and the rate hike may apply to every cable-box renter, and not just those who opt for the super-deluxe new models. More »

11:00 AM on Thu Jul 5 2007
By Wilson Rothman
4,725 views, 22 comments

Latest by blsolom: Will this ruling at lease make Comcast required to sell their CableCard? I am sick of paying $6 a month for these things that I am sure cannot be worth that much. Anyone know anyway around this? more »

road to hell

500 HD Channels on Cablevision? No More Programming Until CableCard Is Easy!

Reuters today said that Cablevision would have "the capability" to carry over 500 high-definition channels. This would include the 15 channels that Lazarus-like startup Voom HD Networks (now owned by Cablevision) plans to introduce next Tuesday, along with the 20-some HD channels that are allegedly in the lineup now plus, I suppose, 460 more channels of come what may. (Never mind the fact that Cablevision doesn't even carry BBC America, the company itself acknowledges there are not yet 500 channels worth of HD programming.) More »

9:23 AM on Fri Jun 22 2007
By Wilson Rothman
6,915 views, 19 comments

Latest by idl3mind: @idl3mind: By the way, they never showed up on 07/17. They said they were having trouble getting the cards programmed. I dunno if they were giving me the runaround or if they were truly having issues with the new SA more »

cablecards

When's CableCARD 2.0 Getting Here?

Engadget HD has the story on why CableCARD 2.0—the standard that everyone's waiting for to provide bi-directional high- def cable support like video on demand—isn't here yet. Turns out the standard for bi-directional certification isn't there, and the associations and coalitions of companies can't agree to agree on what's needed for certification. More »

1:30 PM on Fri Jun 15 2007
By Jason Chen
5,710 views, 9 comments

buyer's guide

Ten Things You Should Know Before Buying a High Def DVR

With the recent launch of CableCARD Vista Media Centers, many people are reconsidering buying (or upgrading to) a high definition DVR. But with all the different choices and various benefits and drawbacks of each, it's hard to choose the one that's right for you. More »

5:20 PM on Wed May 23 2007
By Jason Chen
15,257 views, 36 comments

Gizmodo

Tron 2 Trailer Video Makes Pants Wet Worldwide

Gizmodo Team

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